How coordinator experience could play out for Notre Dame football staff

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football didn’t just overhaul its defensive coaching staff this offseason. It created an ultra-experienced bank of coaching perspectives from which second-year coordinator Chris Ash can draw as he pleases. In Charlie Partridge (defensive line), Brian Jean-Mary (linebackers) and Aaron Henry (defensive backs), the Irish can boast of a trio of position assistants who know first-hand what it’s like to sit in Ash’s chair.

“There's a lot of synergy in that room,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said near the end of spring practice. “I really, really like what's been going on in their meetings: their communication, their coaching, their alignment. … Credit to coach Ash for leading that room.

I'm really pleased by what I've seen out of the defense this spring. " Partridge, whose association with Ash dates to their time as Drake University teammates three-plus decades ago, was Wisconsin’s co-defensive coordinator with Ash in 2011-12. Both Badgers editions reached the Rose Bowl, something that proud program has achieved just once in the past 13 seasons.

Notre Dame opens the 2026 campaign on Sept. 6 against Wisconsin in Green Bay. Jean-Mary, 50, was South Florida’s defensive coordinator for former Irish assistant Charlie Strong from 2017-19.